Vehicles

eBay Listing: 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

Most people probably don’t think of second-gen Camaros as top-level collectibles. The vast majority of their 12-year production run took place in the depth of the smoggy 1970s, when performance took a back seat to huge bumpers and early emissions controls.

But interest in pre-1974 examples is growing, and cars like this ’73 Z have been making serious money at auction over the past few years.

1970-1981 Camaros are never going to be as popular as their first-gen ’67-’69 cousins, but these cars had all-new styling when they were launched for the 1970 model year, and the motoring press loved them back then — Road & Track called the ’70 “the best American car we’ve ever driven.” The LT1 350-ci V8, which was standard in the Z, made 245 net horsepower in ’73, and when coupled with a 4-speed manual, turned the Camaro into a decent performer for its day.

The seller of this car says its a numbers-matching example with just 48,000 miles from new. The car is documented with its build sheet, window sticker, dealer inspection sheet, and more. The paint isn’t original, but it’s in the original colors, and it looks to be in pretty good overall condition.

Low-mile examples of these cars are getting hard to find — especially ones like this, with a 4-speed manual transmission and good documentation. And cars built before 1974 still had round taillights, a small back window, and a simpler front end, which make the design much more attractive.

A total of 859 1970-1973 Camaro Z/28s have sold on eBay Motors over the past few years, with average prices ranging from $20k to $30k, depending on condition.